The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that illegal immigrants have a constitutional right to bear arms, but still cannot own a gun because of other laws.
That’s correct, America’s inalienable rights can be granted to non-Americans, and those rights can be halted by other laws.
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The Associated Press reported that Mariano Meza-Rodriguez was an illegal immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for decades. Back in 2013, he was arrested after a bar fight in Milwaukee and police found a 22-caliber bullet in his shorts pocket.
Federal law prohibits illegal immigrants from owning or possessing guns or ammunition.
It also forbids people being in the country illegally, but why get too hung up on technicalities?
Meza-Rodriguez wanted the charges to be dismissed because the law infringed on his Second Amendment rights. The U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa wouldn’t have it, stating his rights do not apply to people in this country illegally.
The 7th Circuit panel ruled unanimously Thursday that the words “the people” in the Second Amendment guarantees that the right to keep and bear arms shall be infringed applies to those in the country illegally.
Their ruling, which applies in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, conflicts with opinions from three other federal appellate courts.
However, the panel also upheld Meza-Rodriguez’s conviction, saying that the federal ban on people in the country illegally possessing weapons remains valid.
Meza-Rodriguez’s attorney said the decision contradicts itself, and he plans on asking all nine active 7th Circuit judges to review the case together. He said that if need be he’ll take it to the Supreme Court.
(h/t Journal Times)
